An old meme becomes new again with a URL shortener that sometimes results in a Rickroll

Rickrolling is a stately, venerated tradition. It’s an artifact of simpler times, when a solid internet meme could consist of simply tricking someone into accidentally opening up a video of a tidily dancing, deep-voiced ‘80s pop star. Rickrolling, in 2021, now seems quaint.

And yet, as evidenced by the existence of a Rickrolling link shortening site called Rroll.to—and the fact that “Never Gonna Give You Up” remains popular enough to have racked up more than a billion YouTube views)—there’s still enough life left in the old bait-and-switch to keep the internet invested in finding ways to use it to mildly annoy others.

Rroll.to can be summarized easily enough by its tagline: “Shorten a link, rickroll your friends.” The site allows users to enter a URL, accept or adjust a Rickrolling likelihood percentage from the default 50% to any other variable, then receive a shortened link that may or may not end up redirecting to a baritone pop star singing about love.